A Shanghai court has rejected a request from a Chinese company to stop the sale of Apple's iPad in China, the latest development in an ongoing legal dispute over who owns the rights to the iPad name.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Pudong District People's Court said in a statement that it has rejected Proview's request for a temporary injunction that would have suspended iPad sales in Shanghai. It also approved Apple's request to halt proceedings until another court in the southern province of Guangdong decides on a related appeal case.

At issue is a fight over the iPad name, which Proview, a computer monitor maker, has been using in China since 1998. Apple bought the rights to use the iPad name in 2009, but Proview claims that only applies to Taiwan, not mainland China. A court ruled in Proview's favor in December, and that reportedly prompted the seizure of iPads from stores throughout China.

As a result, Apple has accused Proview of making misleading statements to the press that could damage Cupertino's reputation in China. Apple has threatened to sue over those remarks.

On the subject of the latest decision, Apple's China-based spokesperson Carolyn Wu reiterated to the Journal that Apple bought the rights to the iPad brand from Proview in 2009 and Proview "refuses to honor their agreement with Apple." Proview's attorney would not comment.

Despite this small victory for Apple, the case is far from over. While the Shanghai court and another court in Hong Kong have ruled in Apple's favor, Apple has lost a case on the mainland, leading to the Guangdong appeal.

The iPad name skirmish comes as Apple is also contending with concerns over working conditions at factories owned by suppliers like Foxconn. To that end, ABC's Nightlineaired a special this week that went inside Foxconn's Chengdu plant, where Apple has instructured a labor group to conduct a thorough audit.

About the Author

Leslie Horn joined the PCMag team as a news reporter in the fall of 2010. She covered a wide range of topics, from digital media to the latest Apple rumor. After graduating with a degree in Magazine Journalism from the University of Missouri, she wrote for Out & About, a travel guide in coastal Maine. One of her favorite reporting experiences was c... See Full Bio

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